State of the Church

It has been about six months since the flood and my arrival to pastor Salem Church. As we begin a new year, it is good to examine the state of the church. The flood is the worst disaster in Iowa’s history. It is one of the ten worst in our nation’s history. Along with the terrible destruction throughout the city, many of our own members lost homes and business. Likewise, it devastated the Salem church building. We received gracious hospitality from Lovely Lane UMC and from Echo Hill Presbyterian Church in providing us space to gather. Still, Salem has experienced loss, chaos, and instability from the disaster. As if that wasn’t enough upheaval, two-and-a-half weeks after the flood, Salem received a new pastor.

Even in the midst of disaster, however, Salem has continued to gather as a worshiping community. Each week we gather together to worship the Lord God and support one another in community. Though it would be easy to simply look inward, we have continued paying our apportionments in full and giving well beyond that in mission.

At the same time, others have been giving to us. Salem has received about $30,000 for flood relief from persons and churches all around the country along with a number of tangible gifts. Hundreds of people helped us muck out and winterize our building downtown. And we received another $12,000 to give directly to our own flood survivors.

The first six months have not been easy. Slowly, however, there is something new happening in the city, a transition from merely responding to the flood to beginning long-term recovery. The first six months have been reaction to the flood. Along with the rest of the city, our own planning for the future is getting underway. Though this is not happening as quickly as most want, it is normal. It is the reality of disaster.

We are getting some infrastructure in place. Much work has been done on the budget. While we have made some decreases, we have also increased money in the areas of discipleship, worship, and evangelism, bringing the budget into a healthier balance. The overall budget is significantly less than it was a year ago.

I am proposing a new, transitional organization for 2009. You can read about that here. The budget and transitional structure are both big issues that will be decided by the Administrative Council on January 20.

We are also beginning to get some ministry teams into place, such as the pastoral care team. Soon we will be forming and equipping vital church systems, such as assimilation (connecting people). Salem’s budget, organization, ministry teams, and systems are all part of the infrastructure that we are rebuilding.

Along with the infrastructure, preparing for the future means redefining Salem’s identity and mission. Some things will not change: we exist to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We have a heart for mission. Some things could change: the location of our gathering space or the people to whom we reach out.

We have already identified the crisis of the Church reaching the two youngest generations, the young families with children and youth, the people in their twenties and thirties. In order to reach people no one is reaching, we’ll have to do things no one is doing. We will have to be missional (going to the people) instead of attractional (expecting them to come to us). This act of “going to” is what God has done in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. God came to us. Now God invites us to go along in God’s mission to the world.

In the meantime, we have begun having conversations with other congregations to talk about sharing ministry or space or even merging. Nothing is definite. We are just exploring possibilities. Mainly, these conversations have been “get to know you” sessions. One of the biggest questions for us in these conversations is, How can we be better, more fruitful in mission together than apart? We have made arrangements to continue these conversations in January.

Salem consists of wonderful people with a long history and a heart for mission. We have an opportunity that few congregations ever have. We can start fresh, keeping the best of who we are while still moving in new ways. This is a great adventure – exciting, scary, difficult, amazing! We may not know what the future holds, but we do know who holds the future.

The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make his face to shine upon us, and be gracious to us. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us, and give us peace.

Grace and Peace,
John Louk